Lung cancer specialists to publicly promote e-cigarettes

November 14th 2017

In the UK, November marks the start of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, when health organisations and charities all over the country campaign to educate people on the importance of healthy lungs and how to reduce the chances of lung cancer.

According to the British Lung Foundation“Anyone can develop lung cancer, but around 90% of cases occur in people who smoke or who used to smoke” so understandably, a large part of Lung Cancer Awareness Month revolves around smoking cessation. E-cigarettes are increasingly being promoted as a useful tool to help smokers ditch their habit as well as being “at least 95% healthier than smoking” so it makes sense for campaigners to endorse e-cigarettes as a route to healthier lungs.

Lung cancer specialist nurses to promote e-cigarettes in Leicester

The Nursing Times recently announced that nurses at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, who specialise in Lung Cancer, will be campaigning in Leicester city centre and the endorsement of e-cigarettes will be prominent.

According to Nursing Times, those behind the initiative said, “The “key message” this year is that using e-cigarettes are a “great way” to reduce the harm caused by smoking tobacco”.

The campaign will run from 9am – 4pm on Thursday 16th November at Leys Shopping Centre and the trust’s smoking cessation colleagues, Roy Castle Lung Foundation and Mesothelioma UK will be joining in with the campaign.

Louise Ross, stop smoking service manager for Leicester City Council, said: “We know that vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking, and that people who switch to vaping do very well with their quit attempt.”

It is great to see e-cigarettes recognised as a stop smoking aid and endorsed by professionals in the field of smoking cessation. As the government aims to provide research around vaping that is much more accurate than some of the previous studies, we hope that campaigns like this one, which positively back vaping, become more and more prevalent. This will give smokers the information they need to make an informed decision on whether to make the switch and will help to restore a fair public perception of e-cigarettes.

Over half of the vapers in the UK are now ex-smokers however, in 2016 1 in 4 people still believed that e-cigarettes were as harmful as smoking. While these figures were alarming, recent government initiatives which include the inclusion of e-cigarettes in this year’s annual Stoptober campaign and the decision to launch an inquiry into e-cigarettes, will certainly help to correct these “incorrect perceptions”.